The most helpful favourable review

The most helpful critical review

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 starsFans Will Love This
The DVD of BEING ERICA's first season is definitely worth buying for anyone who loves the show. For U.S. viewers, you get to see the uncensored Canadian version of episodes, not the censored Soapnet version. There are some enjoyable "extras," including interviews with cast members and commentaries on two important episodes. But the bottom line is that you get (on three...

3.0 out of 5 starsGreat Premise, Uneven Execution
I bought this show on DVD based partly on the glowing reviews, and both my husband and I found it above average but not a great show, as the quality of the episodes was uneven. Being Erica's main character is in her early thirties, but she goes back in time to high school or college many times and the show feels a bit "juvenile" during certain episodes. Still it's...

The DVD of BEING ERICA's first season is definitely worth buying for anyone who loves the show. For U.S. viewers, you get to see the uncensored Canadian version of episodes, not the censored Soapnet version. There are some enjoyable "extras," including interviews with cast members and commentaries on two important episodes. But the bottom line is that you get (on three discs) the 13 fascinating episodes of BEING ERICA Season One.

I am a 50-something mom who was trying to expose my teenage girls to some thoughtful drama. I knew my girls would be suspect and possibly not watch 'Being Erica' if I bought it for them for Christmas, so I bought it for myself! During the Christmas break my 16 year picked it up one afternoon as she was 'bored' and proceeded to watch the whole season in one sit! American dramas arefull of stereotypes, fantasy, unrealistic lifestyles, over-the-top drama and mostly unattainable perfect lives. BEING ERICA is thoughtful, well written TV that helps you reflect on yourown life. Full of wonderful quotes by a wide variety of people, Erica's mentor guides her through the challenges and obstacles of a normal life with compassion and the quest to learn throughlife's pitfalls and joys. The lead character is a fabulous role model and the moments back in time sometimes poignant, sometimes hilarious. I am now lending the series out to all my friends.Hope my girls lend it out to their friends!

This is my favorite show on TV right now. I wish more people would give this show a chance, and Im sure everyone will get hooked as I did. The show is in its second season, so its not too late to catch up.

The premise is not time travelling, although its part of the plot, its really about life--the ups and downs and how we deal with them. Its not preachy on how to live life as there are no easy answers. Each eposide deals with regrets/key moments that Erica would like to relive and do over. Its a great coming of age drama/comedy that I think everyone can relate to one way or another.

This is a refreshing new show and I must admit, I always watch American TV shows and this is my first Canadian TV show that I follow. It's filmed in Toronto and it makes me want to visit the center of the Universe :) The cast is terrific, everyone on the show does a great job, especially the lead character--Erica. The music is top notch, a lot of songs from the 90s which work quite well with all the episodes. Please do yourself a favour and support this wonderful show!

This show is just excellent. I became hooked after seeing it on Netflix and purchased seasons 1-3 just to show my support for the show! It's a great drama that really forces you to look at past regrets in a totally different light. And the sense of mystery behind how Erica travels to the past and why she was chosen for this particular gift add to the overall story quite nicely. An excellent show that i highly recommend to anyone looking for a series to become attached to.

I really love this show, it's like nothing I've ever seen before. The basic premise is a thirty-something woman who has had various hardships through her life goes into therapy. After she agrees to undergo treatment with Dr Tom, he pops up every time she has troubles in life, she'll open a door and suddenly find herself in his office. This is no ordinary therapy though, this is time travel therapy. At the beginning she writes out a list of her regrets, and then she gets to revisit them one by one, travelling back in time to just before the regret happened. She then gets to see if doing something differently will change the outcome, sometimes it gets better and sometimes it just makes things worse. Whatever the outcome, it's a fascinating study of life and relationships. Dr Tom isn't perfect either, turns out he has problems of his own.

The series took forever to appear on TV here in New Zealand, and currently we're only about halfway through season 3. It is buried on a free-to-air TV channel that hardly anyone watches. I stumbled across it quite by accident, and I'm so glad I did. My life would not have been the same if I'd missed it. I've just bought the entire four series on this website, prices are much better than Amazon.com, better to buy from the country it originated from.

I'm looking forward to revisiting the series as soon as it arrives. I think it's a series you could watch over and over again, picking up different things each time, and enjoying it more with each watch. I don't think I'll ever get sick of Being Erica. The writers are super-talented, and it's one of my favourite TV shows of all time.

I just finished the last episode of the series tonight and I am very sad it's no longer on. I could relate to every episode and they all left me thinking outside the box. Every episode in the series made me look at my life on a deeper level and helped me to let go of a few aspects I was holding on to tight to. The cast all had wonderful chemistry. Most of the actors/actresses were so incredible. I especially loved the actress who played Erica. She was so diverse in playing her role. I still can't get over how amazing this show is...BRAVO!

I do not really remember how I came upon `Being Erica'; probably it had something to do with my obsession with `Lost'. I think someone talked me about the time travel in `Being Erica' because I am a fan of the use of that tool in stories (thus the `Lost' addiction). Well, it really does not matter how I found out about `Being Erica', just the fact that I did find it and fell in love with it. I have watched and loved all sorts of TV shows, and of course, the title of "best TV show" changes from time to time, but there is something about `Being Erica' that is unexplainable. Maybe because I was in a period of my life when I was not satisfied with the choices I had made, I had an instant identification with the show. The premise is very simple and I believe everyone who watches will relate. Do you ever feel you made bad choices in your life? Did you ever want to turn back time and fix those mistakes? These questions are essentially the premise of the show.

Erica Strange is a thirty-something woman who has made all sorts of bad choices and because of it she feels trapped in a life that she never intended to lead. Sounds a little too dramatic, doesn't it? But the show, even though is a drama series, tackles the subject very lightly. You will eventually cry, but just because you have seen something you can totally relate. In some moments you will even laugh and smile because, as I said, `Being Erica' is not a heavy show at all.

So, Erica, in the midst of this disappointment with her life (she is unemployed, has no boyfriend...) meets Dr. Tom, a different kind of therapist. Dr. Tom can transport her back in time to `fix' her mistakes. But there's the catch, she does not actually changes her past, but instead, learns from her mistakes and uses this new experience in her present life. This is one of the reasons I love `Being Erica', because no one can actually travel in time, but we all have regrets and by watching the lessons Erica learns, we definitely grow as a person.

The fact that the show is set up in Canada is not a negative aspect, as the lessons taught are truly universal. In fact, I think it gives a certain mystique to the show. I have recommended `Being Erica' to all my friends and those who watched feel in love.

If you can watch one episode and if you like it (which I am positively sure you will), buy this DVD set. It will be an amazing experience. You won't regret it.

Best, most original show I've watched in a long time! By chance I caught it On Demand one evening and loved it! I soon realized that this show originates from Canada, and that Season 2 had already aired. When I found it online, I noticed that the version aired in the U.S. is a "watered down/censored version" in comparison. I rewatched Season 1 and it was just as good the 2nd time around. So good that I went and bought this set (and Season 2)from amazon.ca instead of amazon.com (just in case it was the "SOAPnet version".

The show is a refreshing change from the crap that's on TV these days. I'll take a well thought out fictional series over these "reality shows" (displaying everything that is wrong with society) any day! There isn't enough shows that possess some real thought provoking situations that we can all relate to and can learn about ourselves from these days. This show is more "real" than any of those reality shows can ever hope to be. You really get a sense of Erica growing and learning about herself and coming to her own as a person and accepting her past in order to move on and live in the present. With each show, I sense Erica's progress and development as she evolves into the character leading into Season 3. The show really makes me reflect on my own life and my loved ones, and really helps me see things from different and alternate perspectives. What I've learned from this show is that we can't change our past, but we don't have to let it define us neither. Understand and accept your past decisions and adjust your life as necessary in order to better it, and those around you. We all have to learn and realize that we have to be accountable for our own lives and our happiness (it doesn't hurt to be good and kind to our fellow friends and strangers as well because it'll all come back to you someday).

We've all had moments where we wished we could go back to the past and change something we feel has affected the rest of our life. Well, Erica has met a therapist who helps her to do that. What really charmed me about Being Erica is the rather unvarnished sincerity of plot and characterization. This is not a slick American production that oozes smoothly along the greasy formulaic drama track pre-approved by studio execs who throw in whatever pap they think will tug at audience heartstrings, no matter how improbable. Instead, it is a Canadian drama that dares to be different, and sometimes goes off in unexpected directions, like an unplanned journey. Erica herself is an insecure struggler with issues - just like the rest of us. The actress shows a subtle range of emotions as she morphs from adult to teenage self. She is quirky, charming and awkward. And her journeys do not always turn out as she hoped. As a matter of fact, it is as if we can never get away from who we really are, because when we do it over again, our inner self guarantees the same result in a different way. There are no easy answers in Being Erica; it resembles life itself!

I bought this show on DVD based partly on the glowing reviews, and both my husband and I found it above average but not a great show, as the quality of the episodes was uneven. Being Erica's main character is in her early thirties, but she goes back in time to high school or college many times and the show feels a bit "juvenile" during certain episodes. Still it's refreshingly original and it has an offbeat charm at times.

Being Erica has an interesting premise which has already been described my many reviewers here. I like that Dr. Tom's existence (is he an angel? A figment of Erica's imagination?) is never explained and is left a mystery. The actors do a great job and several episodes have well-written scripts with interesting moral dilemmas.

Some of the episodes in the season would get five stars from me, especially the ones involving Erica's family relationships. Other episodes would get two stars. A few bored me silly or had me rolling my eyes. There also seem to be some omissions in the overall story arc: Erica is in her thirties, and we never find out much about what she has been doing for the ten years since she got her Master's degree in English (it's implied she has held low-level office jobs and is considered a failure). Her subsequent career moves during the show seem unlikely, starting with the first episode where she is fired from an insurance telephone job for being "over-qualified."

Her boss and co-workers in later episodes sometimes seem like caricatures and spout ridiculous dialogue. Same with her university professors in the shows where she travels back in time. Some of the exaggeration is for comic effect, but I still found the portrayals distractingly over-the-top at times. Also, Erica has some very "privileged" assumptions that she should have a fantastic career, great relationship et cetera by the time she is thirty and oh, how could her life have gone so terribly wrong? In reality many people with brains and education don't have perfect jobs or relationships and it's just the facts of the modern world -- not the result of disastrous events and/or bad choices.

Overall an interesting show. I'm not sorry I watched it, but I doubt I'd check out future seasons.